handsful

Of all the sports that our big kids ever tried, soccer was never one of them.

But, it’s the sport that Dylan has had his heart set on for a few years now, so he’s giving it a shot.

This Y league is just two short months long.  We think it will give him a good taste of the sport to see if he really wants to play it longer term.

As any good soccer mom, I went out yesterday and bought 5 camp chairs.

Today was their first game.

He’s on team Mexico.

He’s had 3 practices so far.

He loved playing goalie.  Got a few great blocks, let a few balls sneak by him.

It’s a learning process.

He’s definitely scrappy, and not afraid to get in the middle of it all.

I can’t say yet that I loved watching soccer more than, say, baseball or basketball.  We’ll see.  Another sport he’d like to try is baseball.  I’m psyched that.

But, for now, I’m a happy soccer mom, cheering my little dude on from the comfort of my camp chair on the sidelines.

Go Mexico!

Old expression, huh?  Oh well, it seemed to fit.

Abbey is on a developmental volleyball team and she has practices twice a week, with scrimmages here and there.  We were able to watch her play this past Friday…

Her team wore black…she’s the one with the black top, black shorts, and ponytail.

She’s on the other side, in the middle, serving the ball.

Time to serve.  Throw it up and then…

Smack!

I don’t know my vball terminology, but this looks like a block to me.

Nice hit.

Serving again.  She made all but two of her serves over the net.

Looks like she’s calling it here….”mine!”

Another nice hit.

I love watching the games, I wish there were more.  This may be her last year, since they don’t have a dev team for 18 year olds this year.  We’ll be looking at other options, since she really does love playing.

Great job, Abs :)

Sister…brother.  But, last night?  They were fierce opponents.  Facing each other in the…

Boys vs. Girls game!  Not an official thing for Upward.  Randy coaches both Abbey’s and Payton’s 6th-8th grade teams.  Practices are usually back to back, 7-8 and 8-9pm.  This was the last practice of the season, so Randy arranged a double practice so they could take on each other.  They’ve both been talking smack about if for weeks. 

He started it off with a relay lay-up race.  The boys won.  By a lot. 

Then, it was time for the game. When the game began, the boys and girls were both a little timid.  Especially the boys…how do you guard a GIRL?  They lost that really quick, and the game got very aggressive. 

Abbey’s backing him up…

break for devotion time. 

Not sure why I didn’t get a good shot of Payton with the ball, but I remember I shared one of him a while back. 

At the end of it all, the boys won.  They were quite a bit ahead, and then the girls came back to tie it.  So, the boys only BARELY won.  Can you tell who I was pulling for?  Well, honestly, I was pulling for both.  Mostly.  It was a lot of fun, watching the kids play against each other, and laughing at Randy as he tried to coach and referee at the same time. 

Last official Upward games are this weekend, with the end-of-year celebration on Thursday.  It’s been a fun season.

Ethan has moved up to the 11-12 league, so some of these players tower over him.  The pitcher on the other team was 5’9″!  He doesn’t seem daunted. 

And, he’s been on the Red Sox for the last couple of years.  Now, he’s an Indian. 

Last weekend’s game was blistering hot.  People (including us) even brought their easy-up tents to provide a little shade.  It’s supposed to be in the 60’s for tomorrow’s game.  Nice. 

Even as hot as it was, our good friends the Orton’s came to watch Ethan play.  Here is Nate getting a squeeze from Lainey.  Lainey likes Nate.  A lot. 

Go Ethan!!!

 

Win!  First round play-off game today was hot – both the weather and the bats!  Here is EJ smiling at 3rd after getting a hit the first time he used his new composite bat.  He got hits 2 out of his 3 times up to bat, batting others in and scoring himself both times. 

Here is one of those times…headed home while the pitcher watches the ball go sailing :)  Next play-off game is Tuesday!

We had a blast hosting the Jr. High kids tonight!  And, we couldn’t be happier about the end of the game :)